Credit for sponsored projects is assigned to academic units, non-academic units, research centers, and/or shared with research centers. The assignment of the credit is directly linked to the investigators responsible for the award/proposal activities. First, the amount of the award, proposal, or yearly expenditure is allocated among the investigators on multiple investigator projects. Second, the amount allocated to each investigator is assigned to the academic unit(s) of the investigator’s academic appointments.

Allocation among investigators
Credit for multiple investigators in sponsored projects is allocated among the principal investigator (PI) and co-principal investigators (Co-PI) based on their relative contributions to the project as specified by the researchers. A team of investigators should specify the relative contributions of each investigator at the time the proposal is submitted or when the award is received. If no relative contribution is specified, then a default allocation is calculated by dividing 90% of the credit equally among all investigators, including the PI, and then crediting the remaining 10% to the PI. For example, the credit allocation for a project with two investigators will be 55% to the PI and 45% to the Co-PI; for three investigators, the distribution will be 40-30-30 %.

Allocation to academic units
The amount allocated to each investigator on a sponsored project is assigned to the academic unit where the investigator’s academic appointment resides. If an investigator is appointed at more than one unit, then the total is allocated proportionately according to the percentages of the appointments. If an investigator has a courtesy appointment (Adjunct or Research Faculty) at an academic unit but no other academic appointment, then that academic unit receives all of the investigator credit for the project. If the investigator has no academic appointments (e.g.: research center staff), then the expenditures are not assigned to any academic unit, but are included as "research centers/units" category.

Credit to research centers/units
Investigators may assign their projects to a research center. Assignment of a project to a research center is the responsibility of the principal investigators. When a project is assigned to a research center/unit, that unit will receive credit for the project on awards, proposals and expenditure tables. The assigned research center/unit usually also serves as the administrative unit that managed the project. Each project must have an academic unit, which is generally the Investigator(s) home department/college. Center assignments are elected on the proposal transmittal form in the “Submitted Through” option.